Macbook screen dimming

Hi all,
my 'vintage' (2006) Macbook's screen keeps dimming... sometimes it flickers.. then just goes a bit too dark for my liking.. ocassionally it's back up to highest brightness.. but there doesn't seem to be a pattern to when this happens.
Do I just have to face the fact that it's just old and probably on it's way out? or is there anything I can do to test it properly?
Thanks for any help
Gem

uncheck the "auto adjust" setting on your brightness in system preferences.

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Macbook Screen Dim (most the time)

Hi I'm having a problem and was hoping someone could help...
My screen on my macbook pro (late 2007) has been running dim for a while now.
It's not unusable, just so dim that its stressful to use.
Ambient lighting is not on. And I know how to turn up the screen brightness.
It seem like the backlight might be gone. At a guess.
Sometimes it flickers back on, and the computer runs at its old full brightness.
But if I turn the screen down, or it goes to sleep, or I turn it off, whatever, when I turn it back up/on the brightness (possibly backlight) is out again.
It's really frustrating.
So Im thinking either a wire might be loose (my great hope) or there is an issue with one of the chips.
I would have a go at fixing it if I knew what the issue likely was.
Any ideas?
Thanks heaps!
E

First:
Reset SMC
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295
Reset NVRAM
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063
Let it chime at least 3 times.
It will help us diagnose your problem to know the exact model, size, year built, RAM installed and OS you're running.
This model has a DC - DC cable that runs the backlight. That could be bad but it's necessary to know the size.

Screen dims randomly with Mac Pro - NOT a Macbook

After upgrading to Mountain Lion, my screen will dim randomly when watching movies or YouTube. This is on my early 2008 Mac Pro - not a Macbook Pro which seems to have this problem commonly. I've searched and searched and lots of people have this problem with a Macbook Pro (battery saving feature or something) but there are no options to defeat screen dimming that I can find for a Mac Pro!! Mountain Lion just keeps getting worse and worse!
HelP!

Hello, thanks for taking the time to help me out!
This is a 2008 MacPro (2x2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon) running Mountain Lion OSX 10.8.4.
I am running two monitors: a HannsG HH281 and a Hewlett PAckard HP w2408h.
When this first was happening back in March 2013, I thought it had something to do with the ambient light sensor on the HP (the HannG doesnt have a light sensor), but it also might have has something to do with the dynamic contrast on the HannsG. I had shut those features off, and I actually hadn't had this problem in a while and there has been a few Mountain Lion updates since then.
I just tried to reproduce this by turning on/off the dynamic contrast on the Hanns G - did not get the problem
again. I also just turned the ambient light sensor on for the HP, and again, the problem did not occur.
So it is hard to say if the problem is gone away or not or if it just is not showing itself at the time being?
Here is the graphics card and display info from the System Profiler:
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT:
Chipset Model:          ATI Radeon HD 2600
Type:          GPU
Bus:          PCIe
Slot:          Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width:          x16
VRAM (Total):          256 MB
Vendor:          ATI (0x1002)
Device ID:          0x9588
Revision ID:          0x0000
ROM Revision:          113-B1480A-252
EFI Driver Version:          01.00.252
Displays:
HH281:
Resolution:          1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth:          32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Display Serial Number:          939LK3NA01178
Main Display:          Yes
Mirror:          Off
Online:          Yes
Rotation:          Supported
Television:          Yes
HP w2408:
Resolution:          1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth:          32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Display Serial Number:          3CQ8410GZF
Mirror:          Off
Online:          Yes
Rotation:          Supported
Television:          Yes

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Hi all,
I have a 17" Macbook Pro purchased last year when they became available after the keynote in October. My question is has anyone out there experienced the problem where if one puts their hand or face close to the isight the monitor displays a substantive dimming effect? I am not sure when this problems started, but it is has been driving me crazy. I am assuming this is not the norm and is a potential problems?
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Hi,
Just noticed the last few nights my screen going dim. It is plugged in to power, the option for ambient light is checked in System Preferences.
If the room is the same lighting conditions why would the screen dim? In fact, if the room is getting darker wouldn't the screen tend to get brighter and not dim.
I have had the machine a few months (June 2009), and only recently in the last 2 nights noticed the screen is dimming. My concern is that there is something wrong with the display, since I never noticed this behavior before.
If I put my finger over the video cam the screen gets brighter.... guess the light sensor is right next to it.
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I recently inherited a MacBook Pro that I had previously bought for another person. They never used it much. Upon attempting to do anything with it, I'm finding that the screen won't stay lit, at least not by much. I can go into the system preferences and brighten it, but each time I wake or restart it, it has returned to a dimmer setting. Once, I awoke it from sleep to find the screen completely black, although a on-off sequence (couldn't see to do a proper restart) returned it to at least a dim setting. Any ideas? Thanks.

Hi,
Just noticed the last few nights my screen going dim. It is plugged in to power, the option for ambient light is checked in System Preferences.
If the room is the same lighting conditions why would the screen dim? In fact, if the room is getting darker wouldn't the screen tend to get brighter and not dim.
I have had the machine a few months (June 2009), and only recently in the last 2 nights noticed the screen is dimming. My concern is that there is something wrong with the display, since I never noticed this behavior before.
If I put my finger over the video cam the screen gets brighter.... guess the light sensor is right next to it.
Your thoughts... do you think I have an issue?

Screen dimming

hey, i'm going to hook my macbook to my HDTV via the DVI adapter and then HDMI to the TV. My question is this: My Macbook has a screen dimming function, whether it's plugged into a wall socket or not after a short time of no operation the screen goes dim. Will the screen of my television go dim?
If so, how can I avoid this issue? I'm using Tiger and there seems no way to adjust this setting.

thanks for replying Simon. I have answered my question in a way. I don't know if the television set will dim but I've found out how to stop the dimming on the computer display in Tiger and on Leopard. You are right it's in Energy Saver settings. Uncheck the "Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before display sleep" this is in the options menu in Energy Saver. Then put the sliders on 'Never.'
Thanks

Screen dimming without selecting it to do so!!

Hi, I am a Macbook newbie and am sorting through some teething issues. The latest is that I have selected in my power setting 'custom' this selection has delays of 35 mins for screensaver and 40 mins for screen off. Now my question is this,I have NOT checked the 'dim screen before screen off' selection, but after 5-8 mins the screen dims down. moving the mouse puts it on full again..
I know it should do that on battery but this is on AC and on my own custom setting...
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Also one more question, why does firefox display selection boxes in a crappy square manner whereas Safari (which I cant use as it is incompatible with a lot of websites) has nice little rounded glowing blue boxes?
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Well that just makes my macbook crazy then!! I really do not understand the dimming when NOTHING is selected for it to do so.. anyone else have dimming?
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Firefox covers most of the problems apart from the last one.
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I have a 20" duo-core imac (white) at work and a 20" duo-core (aluminum) at home and have the same issue on both machines where the screen will dim if the computer is inactive for a brief period. Its not that the computer is going to sleep with the screen going black but more that the brightness level changes suddenly from normal to the lowest setting. If I move the mouse or use the keyboard the brightness level pops back up. The screen dimming almost seems like an energy saving feature but I cannot find any reference to it in the help section and there is no setting or control that I can find in system preferences. A friend of mine with a new MacBook reports the same problem.
Thanks

Hi Reid
DML is correct "System Preferences / Energy Saver / Options" and uncheck : Automatically reduce the brightness...... But you also need the have a look at the following Apple article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304092
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Dennis

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My screen is dimming after 5 minutes. I've read through the forums and found a few answers, but I have my display set to never sleep, and I do not have the option of "automatically reduce brightness before display goes to sleep" like my iMac and Macbook Pro do. Please help, it's really annoying watching a movie and 5 min the screen dims.
Thanks,

Hi,
I had the same issues when I bought my macbook pro a few weeks ago.
Its a feature built in that dim and brightens the screen with an ambient light sensor.
The sensor is underneath the speakers so when your hand goes over and effects the lighting your screen will dim/lighten.
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I have a thin white flickering line (about 2" long) at the top of my MacBook screen -- in the area just to the right of the iSight, along the top of the screen, to be precise. It's a white flicker, so only visible when I dim the screen or there's a dark background, so there's no way of telling how long it's been there.
I have the 13.3" aluminium body MacBook (Oct. 2008 model), running Snow Leopard.
Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong? If I take it in, how long will it take to fix (if at all it can be fixed)?

janpd24 wrote:
I have a thin white flickering line (about 2" long) at the top of my MacBook screen -- in the area just to the right of the iSight, along the top of the screen, to be precise. It's a white flicker, so only visible when I dim the screen or there's a dark background, so there's no way of telling how long it's been there.
I have the 13.3" aluminium body MacBook (Oct. 2008 model), running Snow Leopard.
Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong?
It might be a defect in or damage to your Mac's display or video card.
An Apple-Authorised Service Provider has the required tools, test equipment, and technical data necessary to diagnose the actual cause of your "white flickering line."
If I take it in, how long will it take to fix (if at all it can be fixed)?
The AASP can answer that question after he tests at your Mac. You can ask about estimated times and costs for testing and repair when you are making an appointment for service.
EZ Jim
Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz w/Mac OS X (10.6.4) MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.4)
LED Cinema Display G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11) iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9) External iSight

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Every time my macbook starts dimming the screen, to then turn it off after a couple of seconds, if I move the mouse in that time interval (dim screen before it’s off), then I get a black screen and I have to restart to make it work again. I have had this problem several times with Mavericks, is there any way to solve it?
When I turn the macbook back on I get this message “Your computer was shut down because of a problem ….”

Hello marwandese,
Thank you for the details of the issue you are experiencing with your MacBook Air display.
I found an article with steps to troubleshoot issues with displays. This article is for internal and external displays, so you can skip any steps referring to an external display. I recommend reviewing the full article, but this step specifically stands out to me for the issue you described:
Reset the system
You can reset the Mac's parameter RAM and SMC.
You can find the full article here:
Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displays
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1573
If the issue persists after following the steps in that article, I recommend following the steps in the following article:
OS X: When your computer spontaneously restarts or displays "Your computer restarted because of a problem."
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4636
Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

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Hi all! This is a stupid question. I've just purchased a new macbook air 11.6 in and when watching movies (not in ful screen) the screen dims, Im assuming because of inactivity with keyboard, etc. I dont like to watch all movies in full screen, so how do I change the settings to allow for longer 'inactive' times? Meaning, I don't want the screen to dim after only 5 minutes. Thanks!

In System Preferences > Energy Saver > uncheck "Automatically reduce brightness before display goes to sleep"
Also adjust the sleep timer to suit.

Closing the Macbook screen while playing music.

Is there a way I can close my Macbook screen, and still play music? Without my computer going to sleep?
Thanks!
Justin.

I have been looking for an answer for it myself and here are the opons :
1.having an external diplay will disable slep mode with close lid.
2.there are programs that will force it to not go to sleep (sleepless,insomnia ) - risky !!!
3.turn off the screen (by dim all the way) and keep it almost closed ....
i know non of the above are perfect for you and its realy nice to have it closed when not in use but apple will not give you service if you use the programs and it will overheat.....so dont. please,dont.
tomer
p.s. don't!

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Reset PRAM. http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405
Reset SMC. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Choose the appropriate method.
"Resetting SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own".
Best.

Macbook screen dimming

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